The European Summit on Thursday 17 October gave little room to competitiveness. The heads of state or government are due to meet in Budapest on 8 November for a summit devoted entirely to the issue, in the presence of Mario Draghi. The result will be a joint declaration on a ‘Competitiveness Pact’.
There is an urgent need to take a serious look at this issue, as Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal pointed out: “Europe, as a Single Market, must be competitive with China and the United States”.
In Budapest, Mario Draghi is expected to reiterate the risk to the European economy if the EU fails to react in the face of competition from China and the United States.
“It is clear that Europe has some catching up to do in terms of growth prospects, productivity and technological progress. And that is why the European Union must play its part in this work, especially when it comes to industrial prospects, growth and job security”, declared the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, ahead of the meeting.
However, the subject only occupied the leaders for a few minutes. In their conclusions, they call for “more efforts to enhance the Union’s competitiveness, strengthen its economic resilience, secure its industrial renewal and achieve the full potential of the Single Market, ensuring a level playing field both internally and globally”.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said that all this would require “bold decisions, in terms of speed of implementation, simplification, and budgetary boldness”.
To see the conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/dy2 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal with the editorial staff)